Baptist, Emerus to Open 4 Emergency Hospitals in TX

"Knowledge of the ER and its functionality is really hands-on," Hamilton says. "People can say they understand it but until you've lived in it for five or 10 years you don't understand how ERs work."

Hamilton says that once patients are triaged and registered at the Baptist emergency hospitals they will be seen by a physician within 15 minutes, and most patients will spend less than one hour in the facility. "The physicians and the staff are coordinated in a completely different level where we are cross training people and jobs aren't isolated in buckets," he says. "It's a SWAT team approach."

Baptist will own the hospitals and provide the staff. Emerus will manage the hospitals. The project will create approximately 160 new jobs in the San Antonio area. Baptist expects to open its first hospital this fall, with the remaining three hospitals to open over the next year, the hospital system said.